"...When you refused to help the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me."

— Jesus Christ

Jose Bustos was born in Mexico 65 years ago. Today, he is an American citizen who lives in East Chicago. He also is a former member of the United Steelworkers of America and was a paratrooper with the U.S. Army's 87th Airborne Division.

I met Bustos at Gary-Chicago International Airport earlier this month. He was one of the speakers at a prayer vigil and protest in support of those being deported on a weekly basis from the airport.

Although Bustos is a manager for Immigrant Support And Assistance Center, which falls under the umbrella of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Gary, he did not represent ISAAC or Catholic Charities at the protest. He spoke as a concerned citizen.

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"I was born in Mexico about 45 minutes southwest of Mexico City," Bustos said. "I was brought here when I was 7."

(What) was your father ...?

"He was the general manager of a textile factory who was born in the United States. My father was a United States citizen whose Spanish-born father moved from America to Mexico where my grandmother's family was from.

"While living in Mexico, we were upper middle class. My father wore a tie and a white shirt to work, but I have an older sister who was born with down syndrome. My parents would take my sister everywhere in Mexico to get her a better quality of life, but to no avail. My father decided to come back to the United States where medication was better. I'm proud of the old man because he left a good life for his daughter. He came to work here at Wisconsin Steel in South Chicago. I remember him coming home from work dragging his feet, tired. That made me realize how much that man loved us."

Deportations?

"There are some horrific stories of parents getting deported and their American-born children getting taken by the state and being put up for adoption. At today's protest, I was here to speak for Linda, a 9-year old girl who is living in anguish since her family was separated because of our unjust system. I was here to speak on behalf of Robert, a 15-year old who was forced to quit school to look for a job so his mom and younger brothers and sisters could have a roof over their heads and something to eat. I was here to speak for the thousands of families being separated."

Tell me about Immigrant and Customs Enforcement.

"Supposedly, ICE looks for people with criminal backgrounds regarding drugs, alcohol or domestic violence. But that's not entirely the way it is. For example, ICE is going after the person who had a DUI five or six years ago. Even if that person did community service and paid his or her fines."

Once these folks have been apprehended, what happens to them?

"They are taken to a detention center."

Where were the buses coming from that arrived here at the airport today?

"Northwest of Chicago. Some of these people have been here for 20 or 30 years. Many of these people were in the process of adjusting their status to become legal permanent residents, but when 9/11 occurred, all that (stuff) went out the window. Excuse my language. People say get in line, do it the right way. What freaking line? There is no line. Many of the undocumented are in limbo now."

The wall being built along the border of Mexico and the United States?

"It's a symbol that Trump used to give people a vision of what he talks about, but in reality, it is obscene for our president and our country to be thinking along those lines. And for the president to say that he is going to have Mexico pay for it? Is he stupid or what?"

No comment.

"It's not like Mexicans are saying: 'Let's go to America and break their laws.' (Heck) no. Why are they here? It's because of some of the policies like (the North American Free Trade Agreement). Hordes of Mexicans can't afford to grow crops thanks to multinationals … that own property rights for the seeds. These people are crossing the border without papers so they can feed their families. They are not criminals. These are good men and women who are looking after their children just like you and me."

Final thoughts?

"I read an article in Rolling Stone a few years ago about a plant in Fort Wayne that made power steering devices. They shut the plant down and opened a new plant just south of the border in the maquiladoras (Mexican factory run by foreign company). So, you can imagine the good old boys in Fort Wayne were (ticked) off at all those (darned) scab Mexicans."

Continue, please.

"So, a reporter from Rolling Stone asked this unemployed white guy from Fort Wayne if he wanted visit the new plant in Mexico and meet the person who had taken his job. The American says: '(Heck), yeah.' So, the reporter took the American to the site of the equivalent job station in Mexico."

And?

"The American flipped. He asked the Mexican worker: 'What … is the matter with you, man? Where's your protective equipment?' They worked with a lot of chemicals. The … Mexican said: 'Protective equipment? They didn't tell us it was dangerous.' The American then asked the Mexican how much money he was making. He told the Hoosier he was being paid $8 per day. The American had been paid $18 per hour to do the same work.

"That's when this particular American worker realized that it is not the fault of the Mexican workers, it's the rich people in the United States and Mexico who are screwing the little people. You would think that with all those savings in wages, these companies would pass that on to the consumer, but they don't."